Vista's compatibility question

[33klfan]

I just received a new HP labtop with vista home premium on it. So far it seems pretty nice. No problems. The only 3rd party software i installed with no problem is photoshop 5.0 with the available update for vista. I also downloaded ad-aware. Now, what should i use for a firewall and antivirus for free or cheap that is good. Is microsoft office 2003 student/teacher addition compatible with vista? Some people say it works, and others, not.

[MrMcGoo]

Vista has compatability issues with anti-virus software originally developed for XP, even with Vista patches. Vista no longer allows anti-virus software to have access to the operating system kernel for security reasons.

I have tried Micrsoft Live One Care, Norton Internet Security and Kaspersky Internet Security. Norton is the best on the Internet, but gave error messages with Office 2003. The error message did not crash Office applications, but was an annoyance. The error messages stopped yesterday, perhaps due to an update.

Microsoft's One Care needed to be told that I was on line with every change in URL. Kaspersky was flakey for lack of a more precise term, but did work.

Office 2003 will need updates for Vista, but works normally except for the Norton error messages that stopped.

Be very careful with new software and hardware purchases. Vista lacks drivers for my HP Laserjets and many other devices. I have to use a generic PCL 5 driver for my HP P2015. My job-related software needed updates as well. Giant publishers had the updates, but smaller companies may not be up to date for Vista.

My graphics chipset manufacturer is being sued for compatibility issues with Vista. The plaintiffs will lose, but they were so angry that they were willing to go after nVidia any way. The BFG GeForce 7950 GT OC that I have seems to run flawlessly and runs an nVidia chipset and nVidia driver.

Bill